My name is Dave Stancliff. Walk down the road of life with me each day. You'll find news and my views. I'm a veteran, an independent thinker, and a former newspaper publisher and editor.
This blog is not about making money. It's a forum to share with. All views expressed are mine, unless I note otherwise.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Romancing Costco: America’s love affair with a trendy retailer

Good Day World!

Have you ever been to a Costco?

I have a friend who shops there for nearly everything.

Whenever he travels he always locates the nearest Costco. When we went to Kauai with our wives a few years back, guess what? There was a Costco there.

We both agree that whoever does the taste-testing for the food and drink products must get stoned on high-grade weed first. Everything tastes great there! The non-food products are always top rate stuff that’s reasonably priced.

“The Obama administration's romance with the second-largest retailer in America is stronger than ever - and might just be the most successful union of a politician and a supermarket in American history.”

Here’s Some Facts About Costco Wholesale Corporation:

“Costco Wholesale Corporation is a membership-onlywarehouse clubthat provides a wide selection of merchandise. As of July 2012, it is the second largest retailer in the United States, the seventh largest retailer in the world and the largest membership warehouse club chain in the United States.

Costco is headquartered inIssaquah, Washington, United States and was founded in 1976 in San Diego, CAwith its first warehouse inSeattle. Today, Costco has a total of 652 locations (as of May 16, 2014) throughout the world. There’s 451 locations in the United States.

The non-union locations have revisions to their Costco Employee Agreement every three years concurrent with union contract ratifications in locations with collective bargaining agreements. Only remotely similar to a union contract, the Employee Agreement sets forth such things as benefits, compensations, wages, disciplinary procedures, paid holidays, bonuses, and seniority.

The employee 'agreement' is subject to change by Costco at any time and offers no absolute protection to the workers. As of March 2011, non-supervisory hourly wages ranged from $11.00 to $21.00 in the United States.” – WIKIPEDIA SUMMARY

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COSTCO AND THE OSAMA BIN LADEN RAID

On May 1, 2011, the top members of the Obama administration were hunkered down in the Situation Room, planning the mission that would lead to the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. And what kept the White House going late at night?

"A staffer went to Costco and came back with a mix of provisions — turkey pita wraps, cold shrimp, potato chips, soda." That's right, Costco played a small but important role - who knows what kinds of decisions Obama would have made if he were hungry - in one of the most important moments of his presidency. White House food critic Tom Sietsema analyzed the food choice at the time:

“The choice of a wrap rather than a slice of bread to bundle the turkey strikes me as very Bush-era, wraps being so yesterday. Maybe there wasn't an option at Costco -- which, by the way, is more than one food professional's not-so-secret source for choice cuts of meat, chicken and cherries in season.

The food is all very easy to eat. Nothing requires a utensil, or much concentration, unless the shrimp included tails. Had the first lady walked into the room, no one would have felt obliged to hide what they were eating; the turkey and shrimp would have met her approval. As for the potato chips and soda ... hey, everything in moderation.”(Via The Washington Post)